1963 LOOK Magazine article about the Soka Gakkai: An alarming new religion which wants to conquer the world

By the end of the interview, it was clear that Ikeda, whose word is absolute law to 10 million unquestioning believers, was unflinchingly confident that Soka Gakkai will succeed in the total conversion of Japan, and then the world.

Ha ha. So the "great man" was obviously wrong! LOL!!

Soka Gakkai also operates a large-scale manufacturing enterprise, whose output includes home altars, shrines and religious objects to fit anyone's budget. Although leaders claim that the home prayer scroll does not require special "housing," members are regularly urged to buy altars and adornments when good fortune strikes, as it must with faith. Soka Gakkai is, in effect, a guaranteed multiple-sales monopoly with a self-controlled, self-perpetuating mass market.

We call that "multi-level marketing" now. Amway. Shaklee. Herbalife. Pyramid schemes. Ponzi schemes.

The Rev. Dr. Shohun Kubota, vice-president of Rissho University of Tokyo, concurs. "The principle of Buddhism," he says, "is to restrain man's desires, such as sex, hunger, wealth and fame, but Soka Gakkai promises the possession of these desires. It uses man's weaknesses as a tool for its own expansion. It has the same characteristics as Nazism. Finally, it is a corruption of Buddhism."

To Dr. Yoshiro Tamura, associate professor of Tokyo University, the "true nature" of Soka Gakkai is "fanatic and dangerous." He says Soka Gakkai "makes politics dependent upon religion as long as that religion is Soka Gakkai . . . and will eventually act against freedom of religion."

Another observer fears that it may act against all freedom. "The Japanese people either want to be leaders or want to be led," says an international executive and learned Japanophile. "Soka Gakkai guarantees fulfillment for both the shepherd and the sheep . . . or for a Hitler and the hordes."

William P Woodard of Tokyo's International Institute for the Study of Religions comments: "Soka Gakkai does not respect the rights of others. It threatens reprisals to all who oppose it. Followers are obliged to engage in forced conversion, and in doing so, they force themselves into private homes and refuse to leave when asked. They disrupt public meetings and threaten nonbelievers. Leaders encourage violence.

"Soka Gakkai has developed in such a sinister manner," Woodard contends, "that most people in positions of public responsibility are afraid to take objective stands against it. They are literally afraid; they never know what form reprisal will take. Its insidious nature makes it a definite threat to a free, democratic society. It creates a kind of private terrorism, something akin to prewar rightist activities here or McCarthyism in the States."

"Once total world propagation is completed," Soka Gakkai spokesmen say, "there will no longer be need for Soka Gakkai."

What, then, will become of the shepherds and the sheep... or the Hitler and the hordes?

Read it here